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Romy Chakraborty
Scientific & Engineering Associate

Ecology Department

Phone: 510-486-4091
Fax: 510-486-5686
Email: RChakraborty@lbl.gov

 

Romy Chakraborty

 

After completing my Masters Degree from the University of Mumbai (India), I decided to join the laboratory of Dr John Coates with a keen interest in working with anaerobic microbes. I became fascinated by the diverse metabolic capabilities of these organisms that could be harnessed in the bioremediation of several toxic wastes from the environment. My area of study varied from hydrocarbon degradation, metal reduction to bacterial interactions with recalcitrant humics substances. I received my PhD degree in Dec 2004 from University of California, Berkeley and my dissertation work was titled ‘Anaerobic monoaromatic hydrocarbon degradation by a novel chlorate-reducing organism, Dechloromonas aromatica strain RCB. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the microbial ecology lab of Dr. Terry C. Hazen. My current projects include looking at stress response pathways in metal and radionuclide-reducing bacteria in the environment, field studies of bioreduction of chromium, energy and nutrient cycling in the deep subsurface of Earth and Mars and diverse metabolisms of sulfate-reducing organisms in the environment.

Publications:

  1. Coates J.D., Chakraborty R., Lack, J.G., O’Connor, S.M., Cole, K.A., Bender K.S., and Achenbach, L.A. (2001) Anaerobic benzene oxidation coupled to nitrate reduction in pure culture by two novel organisms. Nature411:1039-1043.
  2. Coates J.D, Chakraborty R., O'Connor, S.M, and Thieme, J. (2001) The geochemical effects of microbial humic substances reduction. Acta hydrochimica et hydrobiologica 28(7):420-427.
  3. Coates J.D, Cole K.A, Chakraborty R, O’Connor S.M, Achenbach L.A. (2002). The diversity and ubiquity of bacteria utilizing humic substances as an electron donor for anaerobic respiration.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68(5): 2445-2452.
  4. Lack J.G, Chaudhuri S. K, Chakraborty R, Achenbach L.A, Coates J.D. (2002) Anaerobic biooxidation of Fe(II) by Dechlorosoma suillum. Microbial Ecology 43: 424-431.
  5. Bender K.S, Chakraborty R, O’Connor S.M, Coates J.D, Achenbach L.A. (2002) Sequencing and Transcriptional Analysis of the Chlorite Dismutase Gene of Dechloromonas agitata and Its Use as a Metabolic Probe. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68(10): 4820-4826.
  6. Coates J.D, Chakraborty R, McInerney M.J, (2002) Anaerobic benzene biodegradation- a new era. Research in Microbiology 153: 621-628.
  7. Coates J.D and Chakraborty R. (2003) Anaerobic Bioremediation - An Emerging Resource for Environmental Cleanup. In, Bioremediation: A Critical Review. Horizon Scientific Press (Editors: I.M. Head, I. Singleton and M. Milner University of Newcastle, UK).
  8. Chakraborty R and Coates J.D. (2005). Hydroxylation and carboxylation – two crucial steps of anaerobic benzene degradation by Dechloromonas strain RCB. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71(9): 5427-5432.
  9. Bender K. S, Shang C, Chakraborty R, Belchik S.M, Coates J.D, and  Achenbach L.A (2005). Identification, characterization, and classification of genes encoding perchlorate reductase. Journal Of Bacteriology. 187: 5090-5096.
  10. Chakraborty R, O’Connor S.M, Chan E, and Coates J. D (2005) Anaerobic degradation of BTEX compounds by Dechloromonas strain RCB. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71(12): 8649-8655.
  11. Tang Y.J*, Chakraborty R*, Martin H.G, Chu J, Hazen T.C, Keasling J.D (2007) Flux analysis of central metabolic pathways in the Fe (III)-reducing organism Geobacter metallireducens via 13C isotopic labeling. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 73(12): 3859-3864
  12. Mukhopadhyay A, Redding A.M, Joachimiak M.P, Arkin A.P. Borglin S.E, Dehal P.S, Chakraborty R, Geller J.T, Hazen T.C, He Q, Joyner D.C, Martin V.J.J, Wall J.D, Yang Z.K, Zhou J, Keasling J.D (2007). Cell wide responses to low oxygen exposure in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. J. Bacteriol
  13. Hazen T.C, Chakraborty R, Gregory I.R, Bowman J.P, Jimenez L, Zhang D, Fleming J.M, Sayler G.S, Pfiffner S.M, Brockman F.J. (2007) Use of Gene Probes to Assess the Impact and Effectiveness of Aerobic In Situ Bioremediation of TCE and PCE (submitted). Archives of .Microbiol.